


Oren Douglas deserves cuddles and pizza

by thealpacalypse



Category: Twelfth Grade (or Whatever) (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, soft bro aesthetic, unhealthy eating habits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7199699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealpacalypse/pseuds/thealpacalypse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the title says it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oren Douglas deserves cuddles and pizza

**Author's Note:**

> both [@mypinkheadphones](http://mypinkheadphones.tumblr.com/) and [@pansexual-link-larkin](http://pansexual-link-larkin.tumblr.com/) pointed out in the 12GW tag on tumblr that Oren Douglas (along with various other 12GW characters) needs hugs. So I decided to give one to him, via certified mom friend Vic Caius. 
> 
> (This is not beta'd, it's almost 2am again and I'm losing my ability to English, so sorry for that.)

Oren is miserable.

 

It’s so obvious that Oren is miserable, but when Vic asks him „hey, how you holding up there, buddy?”, Oren just forces a smile and replies, “don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

 

Oren is not a liar – but that’s not convincing at all. It’s depressing to watch really. Well, Vic for one will not stand for it.

 

He tries everything he can, from “you should probably talk to Sam?” to “okay, sorry, that was a stupid idea, let’s forget about that and play some board games” and nothing has worked so far. (It’s a mystery to Vic how board games are not the way to go here. Board games always make everything better.)

 

Four days after the disaster, Vic comes back to his room after dinner only to find out that Oren hasn’t eaten again. And no way, that’s not happening under Vic’s watch. Luckily he’s prepared for this situation.

 

“I brought you some pizza,” he says and drops a good amount of said pizza, wrapped in napkins, into Oren’s lap.

 

Oren just looks at him with those friggin’ puppy dog eyes that make ice bergs melt and single-handedly cause global warming. Vic thinks it should probably be illegal to make Oren sad. Somehow, Vic manages to hold that gaze until Oren sighs heavily and picks up the food. Only then Vic smiles and sits down on his own bed, knees drawn close to his chest.

 

“You know if you want to talk –“ he starts then, but gets interrupted by Oren immediately.

 

“No,” Oren says decidedly. They’ve had this conversation way too many times already. “Just… tell me about your day maybe?”

 

And Vic obliges. He tells Oren about the lessons they didn’t have together, about the memes he sent to Curt during lunch break, about the intense conversation he had with Fabian about different kinds of time travel. (He doesn’t tell him how Sam was sitting alone at dinner, looking almost as miserable as Oren. He also doesn’t tell him about the fact that he texted basically non-stop with Foster since waking up this morning. There’s a right time for everything, and this is not it for either of those things.)

 

It makes Oren smile, just a bit, and that alone makes it worth it.

 

But it doesn’t last long, and Vic just can’t take it anymore. He gets up from his own bed and flops down on Oren’s instead. “Seriously, what do I have to do to make you stop freaking out, or whatever it is you’re doing?”

 

Oren stays quiet for a long time, but Vic can see that Oren is really trying to find an answer, so he waits patiently.

 

It takes Oren a minute before he finally mumbles, “could you… could you maybe give me a hug?” He doesn’t look at Vic at all, just stares at his hooped socks, pressing his lips together.

 

It would be heartbreaking if it wasn’t just so… _Oren_.

 

“Sure, whatever man…” Vic sighs before he puts his arm around Oren’s shoulder and pulls him close. Oren immediately melts against Vic’s chest, resembling more an inconsistent, powerless shape than an actual human being.

 

Oren is not crying or anything, but Vic can still feel how upset his friend is. Somehow Oren feels so small in this moment and Vic just kinda wants to protect him from the world.

 

They stay like this for a while in comfortable silence.

 

When Oren finally pulls back, he really does look calmer and a bit more grounded. He tries with another smile, and that one seems actually genuine, even if it’s not as bright and carefree as trademark Oren Douglas Smiles usually are.

 

Vic pulls his knees close to his chest again, and he wraps his arms around them. Suddenly his arms feel weird and purposeless.

 

“Can we watch a movie or something?” Oren asks. He picks up the last piece of pizza and takes a big bite, which makes Vic nod contentedly.

 

“Sure,” Vic agrees happily. He grabs his blanket and pillows from his bed to make Oren’s more comfortable, and sets up his laptop on a chair in front of it. But when he notices Oren eyeing a certain DVD, he has to protest.

 

“Oh no no no, no way, we’re not watching that Chris Evans chick flick again!”

 

Oren pouts. “First of all, don’t call it that, it’s sexist,” he says, and sounds an awful lot like Sam in that moment. “And also, you didn’t even watch it with me last time.”

 

“Okay, but I had to listen to you watch it,” Vic says. “That was enough for me.”

 

Oren still pouts, and it’s very unfair. “Fine,” he huffs finally, “but we’re not watching _Transformers_ either.”

 

They decide for _Shrek_ in the end.

 

There are pizza crumbs all over the bed, and one time they laugh so hard they accidentally smack their heads together. Vic still wishes they would actually talk about what happened, or even more, he wishes that his idiot friends would talk to each other about it, but for now, this is good. If only for a couple of hours, Oren is not completely miserable anymore and that’s totally worth the headache.

 

Overall, Vic decides, tonight is a success.

**Author's Note:**

> just in case anyone is interested:
> 
> in my completely OOC headcanon version of this, Oren spends half of the movie resting his head on Vic's shoulder, and they both fall asleep on Oren's bed, between all the blankets, pillows and pizza crumbs because PLATONICALLY SHARING A BED. Sadly that was just way too cheesy and ridiculous to write, but trust me, I thought of it.


End file.
